Seven Beauties: The Films of Lina Wertmüller

Friday, June 9 – Thursday, June 15, 2017

In the 1970s, Lina Wertmüller was a certifiable international phenomenon – a lively firebrand behind white glasses who became one of the decade’s marquee-name filmmakers. Her hot-button, epically-titled movies – erotic and polemical and provocative all at once – became must-see conversation pieces and smashed American box-office records for foreign-language films. New York Magazine put her on the cover, emblazoned with the headline “The Most Important Film Director Since Ingmar Bergman.” Laraine Newman memorably impersonated her on Saturday Night Live. Her notorious SEVEN BEAUTIES earned four Oscar nominations, including one for Best Director, making her the first woman ever nominated for the award. (And one of only four, still.)

With world premieres of new restorations of her greatest successes, this collection offers the opportunity to dive into the history of this extraordinary director, an aesthetic pioneer and a crucial trailblazer in a male-dominated industry. – Christopher Wells, Quad Cinema